11th july – 18th july bookish roundup

HarperCollins has partnered with the charity Whizz Kids, and have accepted four young disabled people in week-long work placements. Ranging from PR to law, all four shone with enthusiasm about books and publishing. More work placements with HarperCollins are planned for the end of this year.

Pokemon Go has been enthusiastically embraced by booksellers everywhere! Bookstores are taking advantage of the craze, and are becoming PokeStops, as well as selling Pokemon books and merchandise. Hey, anything that gets kids (and adults!) into bookstores, I say!

Adult colouring books continue to be A Thing. I love this trend, personally – I’ve got way too many colouring books than strictly necessary, and I love them all. In a society where relaxation is almost frowned upon, I love the fact that people are embracing such a calming activity. According to Publishers Weekly, colouring book sales have lifted ‘print unit sales of adult nonfiction by 12%’. Woo hoo!

Veronica Roth, author of the Divergent series, is set to release her new novel ‘Carve the Mark’ in January 2017. What is so interesting about it, however, is that it is to be released in 33 different languages simultaneously. Not only is this due to Roth’s previous success, but also because there are apparently many passages within the book that speak about translation and the particular relationship a person has with their first language. Interesting!

There is to be a sequel to the very amusingly titled ‘The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F**k’. ‘Get Your Sh*t Together’, also written by Sarah Knight, will be an equally frank and hilarious look at how to live a better life and mentally de-clutter. I’d buy these just for the title, if I’m honest.